The Global Slavery Index 2013: Yikes!

The Walk Free Foundation recently released its very first Global Slavery Index[1]. This report documents the prevalence of modern day slavery across 162 countries worldwide. Their definition of slavery includes human trafficking[2] and child marriage. The findings were bleak to say the least.

According to the report[1], 29.8 million people are enslaved right now. Nearly 30,000,000! That’s a total of 7 zeros. Seven! While the top ten countries with the most enslaved people account for 76% of the total estimate, the numbers for countries 11-162 are no less disappointing.

I must admit that I opened the report fully expecting the United States to be in the top rankings (full disclosure: I can be a bit of a pessimistic patriot at times). I did not find relief in learning that my home country ranked 134th. There are still an estimated 57,000-63,000 people forced into modern slavery nationally. That’s an astonishing number. If you’re not astonished, imagine how astonished you would be if someone gave you 57,000 dollars…or puppies…or jelly beans. It’s a big number!

If you’re interested in reading the report, or one of the other fantastic reports on modern slavery and human trafficking, request a copy from the NSVRC Library[3]. This resource is always available to you, complete with scholarly articles, a full catalog of sexual violence topics, and helpful, friendly librarians who want to make it easy for you to find the information you need.